Digital inequalities in American disadvantaged urban communities: access, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programs

Addressing several important gaps in the digital inequality literature, this study examines digital inequalities in public housing communities. Using a door-to-door survey of a hard-to-access population, it demonstrates how three distinct yet interrelated layers of digital inequalities – access, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programs – are shaped by social inequalities and reinforce one another. First, it develops a multimodal view of access inequalities from the disconnected to the hyper-connected. Second, it highlights the expectation gaps on expected changes that digital inclusion efforts would bring. Results show deep, layered gaps by access, skills, and expectations for digital inclusion programs within disadvantaged communities. The access inequalities contribute to the skill inequalities, which in turn amplify the inequalities in expectations for digital inclusion programs.